U.S. consumers say they feel increasingly powerless in the face of rising utility bills, a new report warns.
The findings, released Tuesday by the utility advocacy nonprofit PowerLines, underscore parallel trends that are happening in the U.S. energy sphere.
The first is that utilities are raising rates to keep pace with increasing demand. The report found that utilities requested $9.4 billion in rate increases in the first quarter of 2026. Those hikes come as investor-owned utilities plan to spend $1.4 trillion in capital expenditures by 2030 to accommodate climbing energy demand driven largely by energy-guzzling data centers.
At the same time, customers are watching their bills rise. About 68 percent of respondents to polling included in the PowerLines report said their electric or gas bill has increased since last year. More than 77 percent of respondents said they are concerned their bills will continue to rise. And 80 percent said they feel “powerless to control how much they are charged for gas or electric services,” according to a press release that accompanied the report.
